Few days of the year are as festive as Mardi Gras. Also known as “Fat Tuesday,” Mardi Gras is the annual party the night before the Lenten season begins. Historically a night to indulge in food before the Lenten fasting season began a day later with Ash Wednesday, today many Mardi Gras enthusiasts are less focused on religious significance and more on revelry. While the day still bears meaning to many Christians, it’s not uncommon to see revelers of all faiths living it up on Mardi Gras. For those who can’t make it to New Orleans this year, a little taste of Mardi Gras is possible at home with some tasty dishes from the Big Easy.

2. On the bottom half, layer chopped black olives and chopped green olives, then the salami, ham, provolone. Cover with top layer, and cut into 4 servings.

Super Easy King Cake

Ingredients

• 3 (14 ounce) cans refrigerated

sweet roll dough

• 2 (12 fluid ounce) cans creamy

vanilla ready-to-spread frosting

• 1/4 cup milk

• 2 drops green food coloring

• 2 drops yellow food coloring

• 1 drop red food coloring

• 1 drop blue food coloring

• 1/2 cup multi-colored sprinkles

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Grease a baking sheet.

2.Open the cans of sweet roll dough and unroll the dough from each can into 3 strands. Working on a clean surface, place 3 dough strands side by side and gather them together to make one large strand. Fold this in half, and roll slightly to make a fat log. Repeat steps with the remaining dough. Place each log on the prepared baking sheet and shape to make a ring, overlapping the ends and pinching them together to make a complete circle. Pat the dough into shape as necessary to make the ring even in size all the way around. Cover loosely with foil.

3. Bake in preheated oven until firm to the touch and golden brown, 50 to 60 minutes. Check often for doneness so the ring doesn’t overbake. Place on a wire rack and cool completely.

4. Place the cake ring on a serving plate. Cut a slit along the inside of the ring and insert a small plastic baby, pushing it far enough into the cake to be hidden from view.

5. Divide the frosting evenly between 4 bowls. Stir 1 tablespoon of milk into each bowl to thin the frosting. Use the frosting in one bowl to drizzle over the cooled cake. To the remaining three bowls of frosting, stir yellow food coloring into one and green into another. Stir the red and blue food colorings together with the frosting in a third bowl to make purple frosting. Drizzle the cake with yellow, green, and purple frostings in any desired pattern. Dust the cake with multi-colored sprinkles and decorate with beads, additional plastic babies, curly ribbon, etc.